Jose Mourinho: Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is loyal and believes I'm still the right man for the job

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Frank Dalleres

Jose Mourinho has faced increasingly speculation about his future following a bad start to the season (Source: Getty)

Under-fire Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho insists he expects Roman Abramovich to resist growing calls to make him the 10th casualty of the Russian’s spell as owner.

The Blues have made a disastrous start to the season and could crash out of the Champions League on Wednesday night against Porto but Mourinho believes that Abramovich is too loyal to fire him.

“I don’t think the owner is a person to change with the wind,” he said.

“I know the wind with the results is an important wind. I know this wind is really strong, because the results in the Premier League are really bad, but I think the owner knows who I am, what I gave to the club, and the owner believes I am the right person to do the job.”

Domestic champions Chelsea currently languish in 14th place in the Premier League, 14 points off the top-four position they would need to qualify for Europe’s top competition by the traditional route.

A 10th defeat of the season on Wednesday evening would likely tip them into the Europa League, which offers a Champions League qualification to the winners, though Mourinho is cool on taking that unfashionable route.

“I know that in this moment to win the Europa League looks an easier way to be in the Champions League next season than to finish in the top four,” he added.

“But there is another possibility, which is to win the Champions League. It’s harder than winning the Europa League, obviously, yes. But this is a competition where we are.”